


Riott Rescue

by AttackPlatypus



Category: Professional Wrestling, World Wrestling Entertainment
Genre: F/F, Fluff and Angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-03
Updated: 2019-10-03
Packaged: 2020-11-22 12:27:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,112
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20874194
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AttackPlatypus/pseuds/AttackPlatypus
Summary: Ruby works at a rescue and Liv's for the times when a certain blonde visits over the lunch hour. Can they find more?





	Riott Rescue

**Author's Note:**

  * For [RelentlassHuggerSquad](https://archiveofourown.org/users/RelentlassHuggerSquad/gifts).

> A special request for my buddy Relentlass

Ruby Riott craned her neck to get a better view of her reflection in the side of the beat-up coffee dispenser sitting near her on the desk. She was tugging at her black chin-length hair hoping that by doing so one last time it would lay perfectly.

No such luck.

Sighing she made her way around the desk where she’d been sitting and filled two small styrofoam cups of the acrid black liquid from inside the dispenser. She conceded the bags it came in were labeled ‘coffee’ but she couldn’t quite make herself believe it was. But, on a good day, you could almost convince yourself that it was ‘coffee-like’. Still, it was the best she could offer. 

Shooting a glance over her shoulder at the doors, Ruby worked as quickly as she could to fill the two cups. She then proceeded to dump four sugar packets into one, she left the other black, before hurrying back around the desk and sitting down. She just had to time to arrange her features into an artfully casual expression when the door opened. The casual expression melted away as Ruby let her features break into a wide grin.

“Hey there! Right on time!” She said happily.

“You know me too well,” Liv Morgan laughed as she stepped through the doors. She was wearing her usual work clothes. Dark slacks, long sleeve black tee, and sensible shoes. The whole outfit set off her blonde hair. Ruby found it absolutely intoxicating but she kept this from her face. Instead, she just stood from behind the desk and offered her the sugar-filled coffee. 

“Triple, venti, half sweet, nonfat, caramel macchiato for you, blondie,” Ruby said with a straight face as she offered the cup to Liv. 

Liv giggled. “So it’s barely drinkable but sugary?”

Ruby nodded in reply. “As sugary as I can make it without killing you,” she said as she touched her cup to Liv’s. She allowed some of her own burnt tasting liquid to pour down her throat before she set it down. She kept the grimace from her face as she walked out from behind her desk again and nodded toward a door set in the wall behind it.

“Shall we?” she asked with a grin. Liv’s only response was to hurry past her and through the door.

Ruby followed into a very large room lined with large kennels. The second the door opened a loud cacophony of barking began which made Ruby’s smile stretch a bit further. She truly loved her job and this was one of the main reasons.

“I CAN’T CHOOSE!” Liv squealed as she ran between the kennels. The petite woman came by almost every day around lunch to visit the animals in the rescue that Ruby worked at. She hadn’t ever adopted one, but she loved to just sit and pet them for a while. This was fine by Ruby as she was happy with the animals getting more company than just her and the other staff.

“Well, I’ve got literally all my workday, but you better choose fast or you won’t get much petting time in,” Ruby teased. Liv looked at her with slightly widened eyes as though this very basic deduction hadn’t occurred to her. In the end, the blonde settled on a blue pit which she and Ruby played with for the next twenty minutes. 

“Ugh, I always hate this part,” Liv said when she finally stood and looked longingly down at the pit, which was back in its kennel. 

“We’ll be here tomorrow!” Ruby said brightly. Truthfully she hated this part too, but more reasons than just having to leave the dogs. She hated it when Liv left.

“Then so will I!” Liv answered, matching Ruby’s tone. Ruby had noticed that the blonde seemed to always bounce quickly back to her usual chipper self.

“I can’t wait,” Ruby said as she smiled at Liv. She kept smiling long after the door had closed behind the petite blonde.

\----------

“This looks like trouble,” the voice said from behind Ruby.

Ruby shot a guilty look over her shoulder and had to restrain herself from quickly closing her laptop. She only didn’t do this because it would make her seem even more guilty than she already looked. And she just didn’t want to hand more ammo to the other woman.

“You do remember why you went inside in the first place, right?” Sarah Logan asked as she sat down next to her. Sarah was Ruby’s boss along with her husband Erik. But she was more than that. In the time since Ruby had met her over a year ago, Sarah had become her best friend, confidant, and even roommate/landlord.

“I’m not doing anything!” Ruby insisted.

“Uh-huh...so is that the girl from the mall?” Sarah asked as she lifted the mug she was holding and sipped from it. She nodded at the laptop’s monitor to indicate the picture of Liv Morgan that Ruby had open there.

“Yeah…” Ruby muttered.

“So this isn’t weird at all…” Sarah said.

“Shut up,” Ruby said, lamely. 

“You know what your PO would say, right?” Sarah asked pointedly.

“There is nothing in my parole that says I can’t look at someone’s profile on social media,” Ruby countered defensively.

“True…” Sarah said “...But what about everything else you’ve been looking at since you got home?”

Ruby’s face burned at her friend’s perceptive (and dead-on) guess. Ruby had served three years in prison for her work as a hacktivist. One of the conditions of her parole governed what she could and could not do on the internet. Fortunately, Sarah, who was an ex-con herself, wasn’t the sort who would be reporting her. No, her friend would try to keep Ruby on the straight and narrow in her own way.

“You know, you could just find out things about her the way normal people do,” Sarah suggested mildly.

“I just...want to make sure we have things to talk about! What’s wrong with being prepared?” Ruby asked petulantly.

“Nothing, unless being prepared involves you violating your parole,” Sarah pointed out. Ruby flushed at this as she hurriedly closed the window on her screen. It really wasn’t her fault, it was so absurdly easy for her to access most people’s information that it might as well have just been written down for her. Whatever else she was, Ruby was a very good hacker. 

“I closed it, didn’t I?” Ruby asked.

“So, what did you find out?” Sarah asked.

“Oh, now you want to know?” Ruby retorted dryly. Her friend just shrugged. Ruby sighed.

“We like the same kind of music, she works at one of those makeup carts in the mall, she likes adult coloring books, her credit is average, and...she’s single,” Ruby said as matter of factly as she could manage. 

“Cool, unfortunate for her, weird, creepy on your part, and lucky you,” Sarah answered with a smile.

“I don’t know, it’s been a while for me…” Ruby answered hesitantly.

“Not THAT long, there was the Rhonda girl…” Sarah pointed out.

“Eww, gross, don’t remind me,” Ruby said quickly, holding up her hands. “I mean it’s been a long time since I like...actually went on a date with someone.”

“Well, don’t worry about it too much, you might not have anything to worry about,” Sarah said as she stood and patted Ruby’s shoulder.

“You think so?” Ruby asked hopefully.

“Yeah…” Sarah smirked as she turned to leave “...She might say no.”

\----------

Just like always, Liv Morgan came through the doors of the rescue. And, just as usual, she received a coffee from Ruby.

“You are a lifesaver, it’s been a nightmare at work today,” Liv said, sounding exhausted. 

“Well, nothing for that like petting some doggos!” Ruby suggested cheerfully, hoping she was doing a good job of concealing her nerves. 

“You are so right,” Liv laughed as she led the way to the back. As she and Ruby stepped through the doors they found Erik already back there. “Hi, Erik!” Liv said brightly.

“Hey there, blondie!” Erik called back. He was Sarah’s husband and the co-owner of the rescue. Both of them were also ex-cons and thus were happy to hire people on parole to help get them back on their feet. Which was how Ruby had met them.

“Want to play with the dogs with us!” Liv asked.

“Can’t, sorry...the misses says I gotta man the front desk…” Erik answered sadly before raised his eyebrows at Ruby “...Sarah also wanted to know if you were planning to take that lunch break?”

Ruby blushed but thankfully Liv wasn’t looking at her. She was already cooing at one of the dogs that was wagging its tail excitedly in its kennel. Taking advantage of this, Ruby shot an incredulous glare at Erik. ‘Are you serious?’ she mouthed at him. The big man’s only response was the give her an encouraging ‘get on with it’ wave.

Ruby turned back to Liv and cleared her throat as she opened the kennel Liv was kneeling in front of. She then spent an enjoyable ten minutes playing with the dogs while trying not to get caught staring at Liv. The blonde was easily the most beautiful woman that Ruby had ever seen. She also used this time to psyche herself out for what she knew she had to do.

“So…” Ruby started hesitantly. Her voice broke then, which made her furious at herself. Which, in turn, did nothing to help her coherence. “So…” she started again “...Ah, I don’t...I don’t know if...well...if you don’t mind cutting this a little short today. That is if you want to. We could...I mean...would you...like to...maybe...have lunch?” 

It seemed to take Liv a few moments to decipher what Ruby was actually asking. The statement had been a grammatical and syntactical atrocity after all. But when she did, Ruby was surprised to see that she was blushing too.

“Umm...you mean like, now?” Liv asked, hesitantly. This tone was enough to send Ruby’s heart plummeting.

“I...nevermind, sorry to bother you. We can just go back to-” She started to say but Liv held up a hand.

“No, I just...I was a little surprised. Like...as a date?” 

Ruby’s face burned once more. She was sure her usually pale skin had to be about the same hue as a tomato at the moment. “I...only if you want to.”

“I’m...I’m sorry-” Liv started to say as Ruby’s heart reached the neighborhood of her ankles.

“No, no, I’m sorry. I should have I’ll just-” she started to say as she turned to walk away. But then a small hand on her elbow stopped her. The mere touch of which was enough to make her whole body buzz.

“Let me finish…” Liv said as she turned Ruby slowly around “...I was just going to say that I can’t do lunch. But if you wanted to maybe get dinner?”

Ruby’s smile was so wide that it started to hurt.

\----------

Ruby had a great time with Liv that evening. 

Yet somehow, this was part of the problem.

It seemed that neither of them stopped laughing or smiling from the moment they met at the restaurant. Using what she’d learned about Liv as a starting point Ruby found that she and Liv did have a ton in common. They really seemed to be connecting and it didn’t hurt that Liv had obviously worked hard to look great for Ruby. 

But Ruby’s guilt was ruining her evening. She kept a smile on her face but it was eating away at her. She couldn’t help but feel like she didn’t deserve Liv’s laughs or smiles. And that hurt her badly. Here was the girl of her dreams and she had ruined it before it had even begun. How could she have been so stupid, hacking into Liv’s life like that?

What kind of girlfriend could she hope to make?

Still, Liv didn’t seem to notice Ruby’s struggles. When it came time to leave, the blonde reached out and laced her pinky in Ruby’s. It was simultaneously the best and worst thing that had happened to Ruby in years. A burst of tingly excitement accompanied by the cold grip of guilt on her gut. She barely managed to school her face back into a smile when Liv turned to face her in the parking lot.

“Thanks for tonight, I had a lot of fun,” she said with a smile that made Ruby want to melt.

“No problem...so did I,” Ruby said, her smile feeling forced. 

“So, you got my number now...text me?” Liv asked.

“Yeah, sure,” Ruby answered. She felt like she wanted to cry. She was just thinking of excusing herself and beating her retreat when Liv took a step closer to her. Before she realized what was happening, Liv was leaning forward toward her.

“No! Wait…” Ruby said as she took two quick steps back with her hands up.

“What’s wrong?” Liv asked looking confused and hurt.

“It’s...nothing, you’re so...you’re absolutely perfect!” Ruby stammered.

“OK...so...what’s wrong?” Liv asked, now looking completely confused. So, Ruby told her. She unloaded everything that had been bothering her. She confessed to what she had done and then told Liv that she deserved someone better than her. By the time she was done, she had tears in the corners of her eyes. 

Liv had stood silently by, listening to Ruby’s whole spew. When Ruby finally stopped talking, she didn’t speak for a long time. Ruby found that she would have much preferred that the blonde shout at her.

“I need to go, goodnight,” was all Liv said. Then she left without another word.

\----------

Ruby awoke with swollen eyes and no desire to leave her bed the next day. She’d blown it with the girl of her dreams. 

Sarah found her still in bed when it was time to leave for work.

“Hey! What the hell? We gotta go!” Sarah asked as she entered Ruby’s room. They carpooled together most days.

“Go away,” Ruby said from under her comforter. Sarah was a very intelligent and perceptive woman, but it wouldn’t have called for one to tell that Ruby was hurting. Sarah sighed as she sat heavily on the bed.

“You didn’t say hi when you got back last night...didn’t go great I’m guessing?” she asked.

Ruby groaned. “No...that’s the problem, it went perfectly.”

“Then I’m confused, Rue.”

“I told her, Sarah. I told her what I did…”

“Oh…” Sarah said. Ruby couldn’t see her friend but she knew the expression that would be on her face.

“Yeah...just let me hide her forever,” Ruby said bleakly. She felt Sarah pat her back through the comforter.

“I’ll tell Erik you’re sick, take all the time you need,” Sarah said as she squeezed Ruby’s hip before standing from the bed. Ruby assumed Sarah had thought it was her shoulder.

It turned out that Ruby did make it into work that day. Two hours late, but she did make it. She wasn’t especially productive, however. Mostly she just stared forlornly at the desk as the time seemed to drag by. All she wanted to do was go back home and climb into bed.

Then the door opened.

Ruby didn’t bother to look up, however. She didn’t much care about what the other person might want. Not today. She only came back to herself when the visitor came to a stop in front of the desk.

“You can give me a real apology.”

Ruby’s head snapped up to see Liv standing in front of her. Ruby’s throat was suddenly bone dry as she forced herself to blink several times. She wasn’t sure she wasn’t hallucinating. She tried to speak but when she opened her mouth to reply, only a croak came out. 

“Really? You can’t even talk to me now? It was OK to violate my privacy but talking is too far?” Liv asked coldly.

“I...no…” Ruby started to say before trailing off. She struggled with herself internally for several moments before she looked up at Liv helplessly.

“Wow…” Liv said as she turned to leave. Suddenly Ruby knew one thing with certainty. She couldn’t let Liv reach the doors. And this realization flooded her with new energy and purpose.

“Wait!” Ruby called as she stood and hurried around her desk. Liv turned and regarded her evenly. But Ruby took her elbow and led her gently outside. As she went she flipped the sign on the door to ‘closed’. She then led Liv off to the side of the entrance.

“Well?” Liv demanded, looking annoyed now.

“Look, I’m sorry,” Ruby began. She was speaking very rapidly, as though she was in a rush to get out as many words as she could before Liv left in disgust. Which is what she was doing.

“I’m so sorry, and I know that doesn’t mean anything right now. I have loved seeing you come into the rescue for so long now that...I didn’t dare hope you might feel something for me. Then when I thought I was getting signs I panicked. It was...so important to me that I be...worthy of you. That I just wanted to make sure everything went perfect. I know that’s not an excuse but it’s what happened. I’m not asking you to give me a second chance, I don’t deserve it. But I want you to know that I truly regret what I did and I wish you nothing but happiness in your life.”

With that, Ruby all but fled back into the rescue, leaving Liv standing alone on the sidewalk. She forgot to turn the sign back to ‘open’ as she did and even forgot her phone at her desk as she hurried to the bathroom. Once she’d locked the door she let herself cry for a few minutes before cleaning herself up and emerging.

She knew that Liv was gone. And Liv was gone because of something that she had done. She felt miserable, but she just hoped she could eventually take some sort of comfort from having done the right thing. But she sensed that would be a long way off.

When she regained her desk she looked down at her phone and saw she had a text. Wiping her eyes again, she unlocked the device and looked at it. Her stomach did a flip when she saw it was from Liv.

“ _ I’m still mad at you, so you can apologize again tomorrow night when you buy me dinner.” _

Ruby’s smile was back.


End file.
